Field Leader -2025 Summer CA State Parks Team Humboldt Redwood State Park

2025 Summer CA State Parks TeamHumboldt Redwood State Park

Conservation Begins Here.

Are you ready to lead and explore iconic landscapes in the Western U.S.? Do you want to make a tangible difference in our natural spaces and communities? Join the Student Conservation Association (SCA) as a Field Leader for our 2025 Summer CA State Parks Team and embark on a journey that blends purpose with adventure.

Schedule

April 6, 2025 - August 2, 2025

Project Leader Training: April 6, 2025 – April 21, 2025

Summer Season: April 23, 2025 – August 2, 2025

Location

Weott, CA

Why Join Us?

This isn't your average 9-to-5 job. Field Leaders will lead and mentor a team of young adults as they begin their conservation journey. This role will be at the helm of diverse hands-on conservation projects in locations throughout Humboldt Redwood State Park. Projects will include mechanical and chemical invasive removal. Share sunrises with giant trees and explore vast landscapes with your crew.

Join SCA for an immersive opportunity to build, manage and inspire a community of like-minded individuals — while completing meaningful service.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

As a Field Leader:

• Act as a Crew Supervisor, by facilitating teamwork, managing basecamp and equipment tasks, overseeing member wellbeing and guiding crew dynamics;
• Serve as an Advisor, by training members in technical conservation work skills, mentoring personal and professional development, and teaching environmental stewardship;
• Act as a Project Manager, by ensuring successful and timely completion of work projects, communicating with agency partners, and upholding a positive representation of SCA;
• Perform tasks as a Program Administrator, by organizing logistics, completing documentation, managing crew budgets, and communicating with SCA staff;

Your Impact

Protect iconic landscapes – You'll play an important role support native plants by removing invasive species.

Inspire your team – Serve as a mentor to young adults wanting to make a difference.

What We're Looking For

If you're passionate about making a real difference and leading with purpose, this role is for you. Strong candidates will come with experience working and leading outdoors. In addition to technical skills, strong leader candidates also excel in fostering team dynamics, navigating interpersonal relationships, and creating a strong sense of community. Come with tools to engage your crew and boost morale.

Effective crew leadership revolves around building trust, problem-solving, and cultivating resilience within the team. We're seeking leaders who prioritize emotional intelligence, empathy, and the ability to guide others through challenges, all while creating a positive, inclusive environment.

Success for our teams depends on understanding and addressing both individual and group needs. Leaders must be fully invested in supporting their crew, through everything from community meetings to one-on-one check-ins, even outside of project hours.

Conservation work is unpredictable, and the best leaders are those who can adapt, communicate, and bring out the best in their team under any circumstances.

Navigating inclement weather and environmental challenges, like working around poison oak and all-day sun exposure, are conditions crews may face. Thunderstorms, wind and smoke can be experienced within the same workday.

This crew will be removing invasive plant using hand tools and, under the guidance of State Park employees, applying herbicide via backpack sprayers and painting stumps.

Required:

• 21+ years old;
• Must have the ability to legally work in the US;
• Valid driver's license (3+ years) and Motor Vehicle Record that meets SCA standards;
• Must be able to attend Crew Leader training: 4/6/2025 – 4/22/2025;
• Leadership experience in the outdoors (outdoor education, conservation work, or leading peer groups);
• Ability to perform manual, physical labor for up to 10 hours per day, exposed to the elements, and must occasionally lift and/or move 40 pounds or more;
• Camping, hiking, and backcountry experience;
• Commitment to teamwork, learning, and problem-solving;
• Ability to obtain a Wilderness First Responder Certification during training;
• Comfortable working in challenging outdoor conditions that will include extreme heat, extreme cold, high winds, poison oak and precipitation;
• Comfortable applying herbicide;
• Ability to carry backpack sprayer;

Preferred but Not Required:

• Current Wilderness First Responder Certification;
• Experience with invasive species removal, trail work or habitat restoration;

Why You'll Love This Job:

• Meaningful work: You'll be supporting an important ecosystem long after your crew ends.
• Skills for life: Learn wilderness medicine, outdoor risk management, conservation practices, and how to build a cohesive, high-functioning team.
• Real connections: Create lifelong friendships with people who share your passion for the planet.

Benefits

• Pay: $850/week
• Travel stipend: $1,000 (split into two payments: half with your first pay check, half with your last pay check)
• Phone stipend: $45/month
• Meals: Provided during fieldwork
• Gear: Group camping gear provided (tents, stoves, cooking supplies)

You'll also receive:

• Wilderness First Responder Training (completion of this certification is required for the position)
• Conservation trail work skills training
• Defensive driver training

Living Arrangements

The crew will have access to housing for most of their season. There may be some projects that will require overnight camping. Leaders should expect to be camping for part of the crew, including the training period. This means limited access to electricity, running water and showers at times.

Community chores like preparing meals and washing dishes will be shared by members and leader. SCA will provide group gear such as tents, kitchen supplies (like pots, pans, and stoves), and uniform items. Leaders and members will be expected to bring their personal items such as a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, clothing, and mess kit. To support the crew's efforts, Leaders are issued an SCA vehicle and trailer for transportation and storage, and a field budget to purchase groceries, supplies, and fuel.

What Might the Season Look Like?

Begin at Project Leader Training, where participants will develop leadership and conservation skills needed for a corps team. Training is field-based and will include a review of sustainable trail practices, tools for building an inclusive crew and proper basecamp setup. Staff will also share administrative and risk management expectations. A Wilderness First Responder course is offered during training. Leaders will then travel to Ridgecrest, CA to prepare for their crew, collaborating with local staff to prep gear, outline project logistics, contact members, and other tasks to ensure a successful start to the season.

Leaders will meet their team during Crew Member Training. At training, leaders will help assist with training and set key foundations for members. Upon completion of Crew Member Training, crews will travel to their work project site in Humboldt Redwood State Park for their summer season. At the project site, the team will receive training from your agency partner on plant identification and different invasive plant management including the safe application of herbicide. Crews will wrap up in Ridgecrest, CA where they will derig, and leaders will review their season with staff.

Work Schedule

In general, leaders should expect to work on their project for 80 hours within a two-week span. This is subject to change based upon programmatic and field-based needs. During the crew's project period, they will work 4 10-hour days with 3 days off. Training and derig will require different schedules. Check-ins with members or managing incidents may happen at any time during the season.

Join Us. Apply Today!

Ready to lead, learn, and make a difference?

Create a profile and submit your application through SCA's website.

For questions, reach out to scawesterncorps@thesca.org.

Let's build a better future—together.

Equal Opportunity Statement

SCA strives to cultivate a work environment that encourages fairness, teamwork, and respect among all staff members. SCA is committed to maintaining a work atmosphere in which people of diverse backgrounds and lifestyles may grow personally and professionally.

Physical requirements and working conditions specific to the position are available in the full job description.

Consumption of alcohol is never permitted when on duty. This begins at the start of pre-hitch and ends once all post-hitch activities are completed. Marijuana and illegal substances are not permitted.